目 录 上一节 下一节 
维尔福夫人客厅里的来宾真是基督山伯爵，他此次来的目的是回拜检察官的那次拜访的。当然很容易想象得到，一听到这个名字，全家人都顿时骚动起来。当仆人前来通报说伯爵光临的时候，维尔福夫人正独自在客厅里会客，她吩咐立刻把他的儿子带进来，以便再一次向伯爵道谢。爱德华很快便跑来了，倒并非服从他母亲的命令，也不是对伯爵有什么感谢的意思，纯粹是出于好奇心，因为最近几天以来，他不断地听人谈到这位大人物，所以很想找个机会来说几句话，捣点乱，以求博得他的母亲说："噢，这个麻烦人的孩子！但请原谅他吧，他真是'这样的'聪明。"经过一番惯常的寒暄之后，伯爵问起了维尔福先生。 After the usual civilities, the count inquired after M. de Villefort. "My husband dines with the chancellor," replied the young lady; "he has just gone, and I am sure he'll be exceedingly sorry not to have had the pleasure of seeing you before he went." Two visitors who were there when the count arrived, having gazed at him with all their eyes, retired after that reasonable delay which politeness admits and curiosity requires. "What is your sister Valentine doing?" inquired Madame de Villefort of Edward; "tell some one to bid her come here, that I may have the honor of introducing her to the count." " 我丈夫到国务总理那儿吃饭去了，"那年轻的太太回答说。"他刚刚去，我想他这次错过了和你聚谈的机会一定会感到很遗憾的。" 伯爵到的时候，客厅里本来已有另外两位客人了，出于礼貌和好奇心，他们又适度地逗留了一会儿，那四只眼睛向伯爵凝视了一番，然后才起身告辞。 "啊！你的姐姐瓦朗蒂娜在干什么？"维尔福夫人问爱德华，"叫人去喊她到这儿来，我想介绍她见见伯爵。" "You have a daughter, then, madame?" inquired the count; "very young, I presume?" " 那么说，您还有一个女儿了，夫人？"伯爵问道，"我想，一定非常年轻吧？" "The daughter of M. de Villefort by his first marriage," replied the young wife, "a fine well-grown girl." " 她是维尔福先生的女儿，"那年轻的妻子答道，"是他的前妻生的，是一个长得很标致的大姑娘了。" "But melancholy," interrupted Master Edward, snatching the feathers out of the tail of a splendid parroquet that was screaming on its gilded perch, in order to make a plume for his hat. Madame de Villefort merely cried,--"Be still, Edward!" She then added,--"This young madcap is, however, very nearly right, and merely re-echoes what he has heard me say with pain a hundred times; for Mademoiselle de Villefort is, in spite of all we can do to rouse her, of a melancholy disposition and taciturn habit, which frequently injure the effect of her beauty. But what detains her? Go, Edward, and see." " 但有抑郁病。"小主人翁爱德华插嘴说道，他正在找一只美丽的长尾小鹦鹉尾巴上的羽毛，想把它拿来插在他的帽子上作花翎，那只栖在镀金架子上的鸟被拔得吱吱咕咕地乱叫。 维尔福夫人只喊了一声，"不许多嘴，爱德华！"然后她又说道，"不过，这个小捣蛋鬼说得也差不多，他只是鹦鹉学舌而已，这句话他听我痛苦地说过不下一百遍了，因为虽然我们竭力想使维尔福小姐高兴，但她却天生抑郁成性，不说话，那常常会有损于她的美。她怎么还没来，爱德华，去看看是怎么回呀。"。 
因为他们去找的地方不对，她根本不在那儿。" "And where are they looking for her?" " 他们到哪儿去找她啦？" "With grandpapa Noirtier." " 诺梯埃爷爷那儿。" "And do you think she is not there?" " 她不在那儿吗？" "No, no, no, no, no, she is not there," replied Edward, singing his words. " 不，不，不，不，不，她不在那儿！"爱德华唱歌似的回答说。 
那她在哪儿呢？你要是知道，为什么不讲呢？" "She is under the big chestnut-tree," replied the spoiled brat, as he gave, in spite of his mother's commands, live flies to the parrot, which seemed keenly to relish such fare. Madame de Villefort stretched out her hand to ring, intending to direct her waiting-maid to the spot where she would find Valentine, when the young lady herself entered the apartment. She appeared much dejected; and any person who considered her attentively might have observed the traces of recent tears in her eyes. " 她在那棵大栗子树底下哪。"那个被宠坏了的孩子一边回答，一边不顾他母亲的吆喝，仍拿苍蝇去喂鹦鹉，而鹦鹉对于这种游戏看来也很感兴趣。维尔福夫人伸手去拉铃，想叫她的侍女到刚才所说的那个地方去找瓦朗蒂娜，但这时候青年女郎却自己走进房间里来了，她的样子很沮丧，谁要是留心注意她的话，还可以看到她的眼睛流泪而仍有点红红的。 Valentine, whom we have in the rapid march of our narrative presented to our readers without formally introducing her, was a tall and graceful girl of nineteen, with bright chestnut hair, deep blue eyes, and that reposeful air of quiet distinction which characterized her mother. Her white and slender fingers, her pearly neck, her cheeks tinted with varying hues reminded one of the lovely Englishwomen who have been so poetically compared in their manner to the gracefulness of a swan. She entered the apartment, and seeing near her stepmother the stranger of whom she had already heard so much, saluted him without any girlish awkwardness, or even lowering her eyes, and with an elegance that redoubled the count's attention. He rose to return the salutation. "Mademoiselle de Villefort, my daughter-in-law," said Madame de Villefort to Monte Cristo, leaning back on her sofa and motioning towards Valentine with her hand. "And M. de Monte Cristo, King of China, Emperor of Cochin-China," said the young imp, looking slyly towards his sister. 我们总在匆匆地叙述，还没把瓦朗蒂娜向我们的读者正式介绍一下呢，她是一个十九岁的姑娘，身材高挑，姿容温雅，有一头光亮的褐色头发，深蓝色的眼睛和那种极其高贵的娇弱忧郁的神气，这种神气完全象她的母亲。她那洁白纤细的手指，她那珠圆玉润的颈项，她那时红时白的脸颊，使人一见，就觉得她的容貌就象那种诗意地自比为顾影自怜的天鹅的英国美女。她走进房来，看到她后母的旁边坐着那位闻名已久的客人，就大大方方地向他行了个礼甚至连眼皮都不曾低垂一下，其举止之雍容，更加引起了伯爵对她的注意。他站起身来回礼。 "维尔福小姐，我的继女。"维尔福夫人对基督山道，她身子靠在沙发上，用手向瓦朗蒂娜挥了一下。 "这位就是基督山伯爵阁下，中国国王，安南皇帝。"那小顽童狡猾地望着她姐姐说道。 Madame de Villefort at this really did turn pale, and was very nearly angry with this household plague, who answered to the name of Edward; but the count, on the contrary, smiled, and appeared to look at the boy complacently, which caused the maternal heart to bound again with joy and enthusiasm. 维尔福夫人这次是真的变了脸色，而且差一点就要怒斥这个名叫爱德华的家门瘟神了，但伯爵却正巧相反，他微笑了一下，露出很喜欢的样子望着那孩子，这使那母亲的心里又充满了喜悦和高兴。 "But, madame," replied the count, continuing the conversation, and looking by turns at Madame de Villefort and Valentine, "have I not already had the honor of meeting yourself and mademoiselle before? I could not help thinking so just now; the idea came over my mind, and as mademoiselle entered the sight of her was an additional ray of light thrown on a confused remembrance; excuse the remark." " 夫人，"伯爵回答说，在谈话中时而望着维尔福夫人，时而望着瓦朗蒂娜，"我不是已经有幸见过您和小姐的了吗？这个念头已在我脑子里转了好一会儿了，小姐进来的时候，一看到她，我那混乱的记忆里又多了一线光明，请原谅我的记忆力差。" 
我倒并不这么看，阁下，维尔福小姐是不太喜欢交际的，而且我们极少出门。"那年轻的太太说道。 "Then it was not in society that I met with mademoiselle or yourself, madame, or this charming little merry boy. Besides, the Parisian world is entirely unknown to me, for, as I believe I told you, I have been in Paris but very few days. No,--but, perhaps, you will permit me to call to mind--stay!" The Count placed his hand on his brow as if to collect his thoughts. "No--it was somewhere--away from here--it was--I do not know--but it appears that this recollection is connected with a lovely sky and some religious f ête; mademoiselle was holding flowers in her hand, the interesting boy was chasing a beautiful peacock in a garden, and you, madame, were under the trellis of some arbor. Pray come to my aid, madame; do not these circumstances appeal to your memory?" "那么，夫人，我不是在社交场合中遇到的小姐、您和这个可爱小家伙的了。况且我对巴黎社交界是完全不熟悉的，因为，我想我已经告诉过您，我到巴黎来才只有几天的功夫，不，或许您可以容我想一想--等一等！"伯爵用手扶住额头，象是聚精会神在思索似的。"不--是另外一个地方--不是这儿--是在--我不知道--但回想起来象是与某个宗教节日有关。记得那是个美好的天气，小姐手里拿着花，这个孩子正在一个花园里追逐一只美丽的孔雀，而您，夫人，则坐在一个什么藤子搭成的凉亭底下。请帮我想想看看，夫人，讲到这些时您的脑子里还没回想起某些往事吗？" "No, indeed," replied Madame de Villefort; "and yet it appears to me, sir, that if I had met you anywhere, the recollection of you must have been imprinted on my memory." " 没有，真的，"维尔福夫人答道，"可是依我看，阁下，假如我曾在什么地方见过您，你的印象一定会深深地印在我的记忆里的。" "Perhaps the count saw us in Italy," said Valentine timidly. " 也许伯爵阁下是在意大利见过我们的吧。"瓦朗蒂娜胆怯地说道。 "Yes, in Italy; it was in Italy most probably," replied Monte Cristo; "you have travelled then in Italy, mademoiselle?" " 是的，在意大利--多半是在意大利，"基督山答道，"那么您到意大利去旅行过吗，小姐？" 
是的，夫人和我在两年以前到那儿去过。医生怕我的肺不好，指定我们去呼吸那不勒斯的新鲜空气。我们曾路过博洛涅，比鲁沙和罗马。" "Ah, yes--true, mademoiselle," exclaimed Monte Cristo as if this simple explanation was sufficient to revive the recollection he sought. "It was at Perugia on Corpus Christi Day, in the garden of the H?tel des Postes, when chance brought us together; you, Madame de Villefort, and her son; I now remember having had the honor of meeting you." " 啊，对了，没错，小姐，"基督山大声说道，好象这些简单的提示已足以唤醒他的记忆了似的。是在比鲁沙，那天是天灵节，在波士蒂旅馆的花园里，我们碰巧相遇的--您，维尔福夫人，令郎，小姐和我，我现在记起来了我的确有幸见过你们的。" "I perfectly well remember Perugia, sir, and the H?tel des Postes, and the festival of which you speak," said Madame de Villefort, "but in vain do I tax my memory, of whose treachery I am ashamed, for I really do not recall to mind that I ever had the pleasure of seeing you before." " 关于比鲁沙，波士蒂旅馆，和您所指的那个节日我记得很清楚，阁下，"维尔福夫人说道，"但我可再也想不起什么别的来了，我很惭愧自己的记忆力太差，因为我真的记不得以前曾有幸见过您。" "It is strange, but neither do I recollect meeting with you," observed Valentine, raising her beautiful eyes to the count. " 这就怪了，我也记不起和您见过面的。"瓦朗蒂娜抬起她那双美丽的眼睛望着伯爵说道。 "But I remember it perfectly," interposed the darling Edward. " 我可记得。"爱德华说道。 
我来帮您回忆一下吧，夫人，"伯爵又说道，"那天的天气热得象火烧一样，您在那儿等马车，因为是节日，所以车子来晚了。小姐在花园的树荫底下散步，令郎去追赶那只鸟，后来就跑得不见了。" "And I caught it, mamma, don't you remember?" interposed Edward, "and I pulled three such beautiful feathers out of his tail." " 我追到它啦，妈妈，你不记得了吗？"爱德华说道，"我在它的尾巴上还拔了三根毛呢。" "You, madame, remained under the arbor; do you not remember, that while you were seated on a stone bench, and while, as I told you, Mademoiselle de Villefort and your young son were absent, you conversed for a considerable time with somebody?" " 您，夫人，正如我所说的，是等在一个葡萄藤搭成的凉亭底下的，您不记得了吗？您坐在一张石凳上，当维尔福小姐和您的小儿子不在的时候，你曾和一个人谈了很长一段时间不是吗？" "Yes, in truth, yes," answered the young lady, turning very red, "I do remember conversing with a person wrapped in a long woollen mantle; he was a medical man, I think." " 是的。真的，是的，"那年轻太太回答说，脸变得通红，"我的确记得曾和一个身穿羊毛大氅的人讲过话，我记得他好象是一个医生。" "Precisely so, madame; this man was myself; for a fortnight I had been at that hotel, during which period I had cured my valet de chambre of a fever, and my landlord of the jaundice, so that I really acquired a reputation as a skilful physician. We discoursed a long time, madame, on different subjects; of Perugino, of Raffaelle, of manners, customs, of the famous aquatofana, of which they had told you, I think you said, that certain individuals in Perugia had preserved the secret." " 一点不错，夫人，那人就是我。当时我已在那家旅馆住了两星期，在那期间，我医好了我贴身跟班的寒热症和旅馆老板的黄疸病，所以真的有人称我是一个妙手回春的医生。我们谈了很长时间，夫人，谈到了各种问题，如比鲁杰诺［（一四四五-一五三二），意大利画家。--译注］，拉斐尔［（一四八三-一五二○），意大利画家。--译注］，各地的风俗习惯，和那著名的'扎弗娜毒水［十七世纪时，意大利妇人托弗娜谋害邦地古斯国王的药水，相传无色、无味、无臭。--译注］'，我好象记得你还说过，有人告诉您，说比鲁沙有人保存着那种毒水的秘方呢。" 
是的，不错，"维尔福夫人急忙回答说，神色有点不安的样子。"我现在记起来了。" "I do not recollect now all the various subjects of which we discoursed, madame," continued the count with perfect calmness; "but I perfectly remember that, falling into the error which others had entertained respecting me, you consulted me as to the health of Mademoiselle de Villefort." " 那次我们讨论到各种各样的问题，只是现在我记不全了，夫人，"伯爵十分平静地说道，"但后来您也象别人一样对我产生了点误解，和我商量到维尔福小姐的健康问题，这一点我却是记得很清楚的。" "Yes, really, sir, you were in fact a medical man," said Madame de Villefort, "since you had cured the sick." " 是的，的确，阁下，您的确是一位医生，"维尔福夫人说道，"因为您治好了很多病人。" "Moliere or Beaumarchais would reply to you, madame, that it was precisely because I was not, that I had cured my patients; for myself, I am content to say to you that I have studied chemistry and the natural sciences somewhat deeply, but still only as an amateur, you understand."--At this moment the clock struck six. "It is six o'clock," said Madame de Villefort, evidently agitated. "Valentine, will you not go and see if your grandpapa will have his dinner?" Valentine rose, and saluting the count, left the apartment without speaking. " 这一点我可以借莫里和博马舍［（一八一八-一八九三），法国剧作家。--译注］的话来回答您，因为正如他们所说的：治好我的病人的，并不是我。至于我，我只能对您说，我对于药物学和各种自然科学曾作过很深的研究，但您知道，那只不过是一种业余的研究罢了。" 这时时钟敲了六下。"现在已经六点钟了，"维尔福夫人显然很激动地说道。"凡兰蒂，你的爷爷是不是要吃饭了，你去看看好吗？" 瓦朗蒂娜站起来向伯爵行了个礼，默默无言地离开了房间。 "Oh, madame," said the count, when Valentine had left the room, "was it on my account that you sent Mademoiselle de Villefort away?" " 噢，夫人！"等瓦朗蒂娜离开房间以后，伯爵说道，"您是为了我才把维尔福小姐打发走的吗？" 
决不是的，"那轻妇人急忙答道，"我们总是在这个时候给诺瓦蒂埃先生吃饭的，说来可怜，他吃饭也只是维持他那种悲愁的生活而已。阁下，您可能已经知道那老人可悲状况了吧？" "Yes, madame, M. de Villefort spoke of it to me--a paralysis, I think." " 是的，夫人，维尔福先生对我谈起过。我好象记得那老人是个瘫子。" "Alas, yes; the poor old gentleman is entirely helpless; the mind alone is still active in this human machine, and that is faint and flickering, like the light of a lamp about to expire. But excuse me, sir, for talking of our domestic misfortunes; I interrupted you at the moment when you were telling me that you were a skilful chemist." " 唉，是呀！那可怜的老人全身都不能动弹，在这架人体机器里，只有脑子还可以活动一下，而那也只是象摇摇欲熄的一点灯火一样而已。请原谅我谈起了我们家庭里的不幸，先生，我打断了您的话啦，您刚才在告诉我，说您是一个高明的药物学家。" "No, madame, I did not say as much as that," replied the count with a smile; "quite the contrary. I have studied chemistry because, having determined to live in eastern climates I have been desirous of following the example of King Mithridates." " 不，夫人，我并没说自己达到了那种程度，"伯爵带笑回答说，"恰恰相反，我之所以要研究药物学，是因为我决定要住在东方，所以我很希望能学学国王米沙里旦司的榜样［米沙里旦司是公元前一世纪时小亚细亚地方邦图斯的国王，因怕别人用毒药药死他，自己常服毒药，逐渐加重毒药的份量，到后来虽吃大量毒药而不会中毒。--译注］。" "Mithridates, rex Ponticus," said the young scamp, as he tore some beautiful portraits out of a splendid album, "the individual who took cream in his cup of poison every morning at breakfast." "' 米沙里旦司，君临邦图斯，'"那小无赖一边说，一边从一本精美的画册上撕下了一张美丽的画片，"那个人每天早晨吃早餐的时候都要喝一杯烈性毒药。" 
爱德华，你这顽皮孩子！"维尔福夫人从那顽童的手里夺过了那本残缺不全的书，大声说道，"你真叫人受不住啦，老是打扰大人的谈话。出去吧，到诺瓦蒂埃爷爷的房间里找你的姐姐瓦朗蒂娜去吧。" "The album," said Edward sulkily. " 画册。"爱德华说道。 "What do you mean?--the album!" " 什么？画册！" "I want the album." " 我要那本画册。" "How dare you tear out the drawings?" " 你干嘛要把图画撕下来？" 
噢，我高兴这么做嘛。" "Go--go at once." " 去吧，快去吧。" "I won't go unless you give me the album," said the boy, seating himself doggedly in an arm-chair, according to his habit of never giving way. " 我不去，除非你把那本画册给我。"那孩子说道，并按照他以往决不让步的习惯，赖皮地在一张圈椅上坐定下来。 "Take it, then, and pray disturb us no longer," said Madame de Villefort, giving the album to Edward, who then went towards the door, led by his mother. The count followed her with his eyes. " 拿去吧，别再来打扰我们了。"维尔福夫人说着，把那本画册给了爱德华，于是，那孩子就由他的母亲领着，向门口走去了。 "Let us see if she shuts the door after him," he muttered. Madame de Villefort closed the door carefully after the child, the count appearing not to notice her; then casting a scrutinizing glance around the chamber, the young wife returned to her chair, in which she seated herself. "Allow me to observe, madame," said the count, with that kind tone he could assume so well, "you are really very severe with that dear clever child." 伯爵的目光一直跟着她。"我来看看，他出去以后，她关不关门。"他低声自语道。 那孩子出去以后，维尔福夫人果然小心地把门关上了，伯爵表面上象是根本没去注意她似的，他以一种细察的目光向房间里环视了一下，那位年轻的太太走回到她的椅子边，又坐了下来。 "请允许我说一句话，夫人，"伯爵用他那种假装得非常巧妙的慈爱的口吻说道："您对那个可爱的孩子真是太严厉了一点。" 
噢，有时候严厉是很必要的。"维尔福夫人用用一种真正母性的语气煞有介事地说道。 "It was his Cornelius Nepos that Master Edward was repeating when he referred to King Mithridates," continued the count, "and you interrupted him in a quotation which proves that his tutor has by no means neglected him, for your son is really advanced for his years." " 爱德华小主人刚才那句关于国王米沙里旦司的话，是尼颇士［（公元前-？），罗马历史家。--译注］的说的，"伯爵又说道，"从他这句引证话上来看，他的家庭教师对他没有疏忽，令郎真可谓是早熟啊。" "The fact is, count," answered the mother, agreeably flattered, "he has great aptitude, and learns all that is set before him. He has but one fault, he is somewhat wilful; but really, on referring for the moment to what he said, do you truly believe that Mithridates used these precautions, and that these precautions were efficacious?" " 伯爵阁下，"做母亲的很高兴受到这样的恭维，答道，"他的天资的确很高，不管什么东西放到他面前，他一学就会。他只有一个缺点，就是有点任性，至于他刚才所讲的，您真相信米沙里旦司用过那种预防剂，而且那种预防剂的确很有效吗？" "I think so, madame, because I myself have made use of them, that I might not be poisoned at Naples, at Palermo, and at Smyrna--that is to say, on three several occasions when, but for these precautions, I must have lost my life." " 我想是的，夫人，因为我--就是现在跟您讲话的我--也曾服用过它们，免得在那不勒斯，巴勒莫和士麦拿的时候被人毒死，也就是说，有三四次，要不是全靠了那种预防剂，"我一定早没命了。" "And your precautions were successful?" " 您的预防剂成功了吗？" 
相当成功。" "Yes, I remember now your mentioning to me at Perugia something of this sort." " 是的，我现在记起来了。您在比鲁沙曾对我提到过这类事情。" "Indeed?" said the count with an air of surprise, remarkably well counterfeited; "I really did not remember." " 真的！我提到过吗？"伯爵带着一种巧装的惊愕的神色说道，"我实在是记不得了。" "I inquired of you if poisons acted equally, and with the same effect, on men of the North as on men of the South; and you answered me that the cold and sluggish habits of the North did not present the same aptitude as the rich and energetic temperaments of the natives of the South." " 我问过您毒药对于南方人和北方人是不是会产生同样的效力，而您回答说，北方人的脾性冷淡怠惰，南方人的性格热烈活泼，他们对于毒药的感受性是不一样的。" "And that is the case," observed Monte Cristo. "I have seen Russians devour, without being visibly inconvenienced, vegetable substances which would infallibly have killed a Neapolitan or an Arab." " 的确如此，"基督山说道。"我曾目睹过俄国人吃一种植物素，吃了以后显然毫无妨害，但假如是一个那不勒斯人或是一个阿拉伯人，吃下去那一定会丧命的。" 
您真的相信，我们比东方人容易见效，在我们这种多雾多雨的地带，一个人要使他自己逐渐习惯于吸收毒药，比那些热带的人容易一些吗？" "Certainly; it being at the same time perfectly understood that he should have been duly fortified against the poison to which he had not been accustomed." " 当然罗，同时也必须懂得，一个人只有亲自用惯了那种毒药，才能不被那种毒药所害。" "Yes, I understand that; and how would you habituate yourself, for instance, or rather, how did you habituate yourself to it?" " 是的，这我懂的。只是您怎样才能用惯呢？或说得更确切些，您是怎样用惯的呢？" "Oh, very easily. Suppose you knew beforehand the poison that would be made use of against you; suppose the poison was, for instance, brucine"-- " 噢，那非常容易。假如您事先知道会用什么毒药来谋害您，假如那毒药，譬如说，是木鳖精…" "Brucine is extracted from the false angostura [1] is it not?" inquired Madame de Villefort. " 木鳖精是从番木鳖的皮和果实中提炼出来的那种东西对吗？"维尔福夫人问道。 
一点不错，夫人，"基督山答道，"我发觉我实在没多有少可以教您的了。请允许我恭贺您的学识丰富，这种知识在太太们当中是极少有人知道的。" "Oh, I am aware of that," said Madame de Villefort; "but I have a passion for the occult sciences, which speak to the imagination like poetry, and are reducible to figures, like an algebraic equation; but go on, I beg of you; what you say interests me to the greatest degree." " 噢，我是知道的，"维尔福夫人说道，"我对于神秘科学非常感兴趣，它们象诗歌一样的需要想象力，又象一个代数方程式似的可以还原。请您说下去吧，您所说的我觉得有趣极了。" "Well," replied Monte Cristo "suppose, then, that this poison was brucine, and you were to take a milligramme the first day, two milligrammes the second day, and so on. Well, at the end of ten days you would have taken a centigramme, at the end of twenty days, increasing another milligramme, you would have taken three hundred centigrammes; that is to say, a dose which you would support without inconvenience, and which would be very dangerous for any other person who had not taken the same precautions as yourself. Well, then, at the end of a month, when drinking water from the same carafe, you would kill the person who drank with you, without your perceiving, otherwise than from slight inconvenience, that there was any poisonous substance mingled with this water." " 好的，"基督山答道，"那么，假定这种毒药是木鳖精，您在第一天吃一克，第二天吃两克，如此类推。好，到了第十天，您可以吃十克了，到第二十天，又了一倍，您可以吃二十克了。也就是说，这服药您吃了可以毫无妨碍了，但要是没有经过这种预防步骤的人吃了，却是非常危险的。好了，那么，满一个月的时候，您要是和别人同喝一只水瓶里的毒药水，您可以把那个人毒死，而您自己同时虽然也喝了这种水，但除了微微觉得有点不舒服以外，决不会觉察到这瓶水里混有任何毒质的。" "Do you know any other counter-poisons?" " 您知道还有任何其他的抗毒剂吗？" "I do not." " 我不知道了。" 
我常常读好多遍米沙里旦司的历史。"维尔福夫人用一种沉思的门吻说道，"我始终认为那只过是荒唐之谈罢了。" "No, madame, contrary to most history, it is true; but what you tell me, madame, what you inquire of me, is not the result of a chance query, for two years ago you asked me the same questions, and said then, that for a very long time this history of Mithridates had occupied your mind." " 不，夫人，和大多数历史家所说的相反，这件事是真的。但是夫人您告诉我的，哦，您问我的这件事，我看这决非是个偶然的问题，因为两年以前您就曾问过我这个同样的问题，而且还说，米沙里旦司的历史已在您脑子里盘旋了很长一段时间了。" "True, sir. The two favorite studies of my youth were botany and mineralogy, and subsequently, when I learned that the use of simples frequently explained the whole history of a people, and the entire life of individuals in the East, as flowers betoken and symbolize a love affair, I have regretted that I was not a man, that I might have been a Flamel, a Fontana, or a Cabanis." " 不错，阁下。我年轻的时候最喜爱的两门功课就是植物学和矿物学。后来，我又知道，在东方各国，草药的使用常常可以解释一个民族的全部历史和个人的整个生涯，正如各种花可以说明它们的情思一样。当时，我后悔我不是个男人，否则，我倒也许可以成为弗赖米尔［（一三三○-一四一八），法国炼金术家。--译注］，芳丹拿［（一七三○-一八○五），意大利生理学家。--译注］，或卡巴尼斯。" "And the more, madame," said Monte Cristo, "as the Orientals do not confine themselves, as did Mithridates, to make a cuirass of his poisons, but they also made them a dagger. Science becomes, in their hands, not only a defensive weapon, but still more frequently an offensive one; the one serves against all their physical sufferings, the other against all their enemies. With opium, belladonna, brucaea, snake-wood, and the cherry-laurel, they put to sleep all who stand in their way. There is not one of those women, Egyptian, Turkish, or Greek, whom here you call 'good women,' who do not know how, by means of chemistry, to stupefy a doctor, and in psychology to amaze a confessor." " 还有一点，夫人，"基督山说道，"东方人并不象米沙里旦司那样只限于用毒药来做护心镜，他们也把它当作匕首来用的。科学在他们的手里不仅仅是一件防御性武器，而更常常是一种进攻性武器。前者用来进攻他们肉体上的一切痛苦，后者用来进攻他们所有的敌人。有了鸦片，颠茄，番木鳖，蛇木根，樱桂皮，他们就可以使那些清醒的人一齐睡去。埃及，土耳其，希腊的女人，就是你们在此称之为'好女人'的那些人，她们都知道该如何在药物学上使医生们吓得目瞪口呆或在心理学上惊倒忏悔师们。" "Really," said Madame de Villefort, whose eyes sparkled with strange fire at this conversation. " 真的！"维尔福夫人说道，在这段谈话里，她的眼睛时不时地闪耀出一种奇异的火花。 
哦，的确是真的！夫人，"基督山继续说道，"一种植物能产生爱，但那种植物也能造成死。一种药物能在你面前打开天堂之门，那种药物同样也能把一个人推入地狱，东方的秘剧就这样开始和结束的！每一种东西都有许多的阴暗面，正如人类的肉体和精神变幻无常，各有其特征一样。我还可以更进一步地说，那些化学家是有能力把药物和病症根据他的所好或他想复仇的愿望加以适当的配合的。" "But, sir," remarked the young woman, "these Eastern societies, in the midst of which you have passed a portion of your existence, are as fantastic as the tales that come from their strange land. A man can easily be put out of the way there, then; it is, indeed, the Bagdad and Bassora of the 'Thousand and One Nights.' The sultans and viziers who rule over society there, and who constitute what in France we call the government, are really Haroun-al-Raschids and Giaffars, who not only pardon a poisoner, but even make him a prime minister, if his crime has been an ingenious one, and who, under such circumstances, have the whole story written in letters of gold, to divert their hours of idleness and ennui." " 但是，阁下，"那位太太说道，"您曾在那些东方世界里生活过一段时期，那些地方可真象是《一千零一夜》里的故事一样的神奇。照这样讲，那儿的人可以很轻易地被人除掉，这可实在是盖伦特先生［（一六四六-一七一五），《一千零一夜》的法译者。--译注］时代的巴格达和巴斯拉了。苏丹和维齐［古代阿拉伯国家的国王叫苏丹，大臣叫维齐。--译注］统治着那些年代里，他们也有我们法国目前所谓的政府这一类的东西，但实际上他们却只是回教的教主和祭师，他们不但可以饶恕一个毒人犯，而且要是他犯罪的技术很高超的话，甚至可以封他做首相的，遇到这种情形，他们还要把全部故事用金字注载下来，借以消磨他们闲散无聊的时光。" "By no means, madame; the fanciful exists no longer in the East. There, disguised under other names, and concealed under other costumes, are police agents, magistrates, attorneys-general, and bailiffs. They hang, behead, and impale their criminals in the most agreeable possible manner; but some of these, like clever rogues, have contrived to escape human justice, and succeed in their fraudulent enterprises by cunning stratagems. Amongst us a simpleton, possessed by the demon of hate or cupidity, who has an enemy to destroy, or some near relation to dispose of, goes straight to the grocer's or druggist's, gives a false name, which leads more easily to his detection than his real one, and under the pretext that the rats prevent him from sleeping, purchases five or six grammes of arsenic--if he is really a cunning fellow, he goes to five or six different druggists or grocers, and thereby becomes only five or six times more easily traced;--then, when he has acquired his specific, he administers duly to his enemy, or near kinsman, a dose of arsenic which would make a mammoth or mastodon burst, and which, without rhyme or reason, makes his victim utter groans which alarm the entire neighborhood. Then arrive a crowd of policemen and constables. They fetch a doctor, who opens the dead body, and collects from the entrails and stomach a quantity of arsenic in a spoon. Next day a hundred newspapers relate the fact, with the names of the victim and the murderer. The same evening the grocer or grocers, druggist or druggists, come and say, 'It was I who sold the arsenic to the gentleman;' and rather than not recognize the guilty purchaser, they will recognize twenty. Then the foolish criminal is taken, imprisoned, interrogated, confronted, confounded, condemned, and cut off by hemp or steel; or if she be a woman of any consideration, they lock her up for life. This is the way in which you Northerns understand chemistry, madame. Desrues was, however, I must confess, more skilful." " 决不是这样的，夫人，东方已不再有那种异想天开的事情了。那儿现在也有了警察，法官，检察长和地方官，不过名称和服装不同罢了。他们尽可能地以最适当的方式处置他们的犯人，有绞刑，杀头和刺刑。但有些犯人却能象那些刁滑的地痞流氓一样设法逃脱法律的制裁，凭着他们巧妙的计谋继续做贪赃枉法的事。在我们的人社会里，一个傻瓜要是心里怀有仇恨或动了贪念，想除掉一个仇人或除去一个近亲，他就会径自跑到杂货店或药房里，借口老鼠吵得他无法睡觉，要买五六克砒霜，他还会捏造一个假名字，而那却比真名字更容易被识破，假如他真是一个狡猾的家伙，他就会分别到五六家不同的药房或杂货店里去买，因此，当追踪线索的时候，就更容易了五六倍。然后，当他弄到他想要的东西以后，他就莽莽撞撞地给他的仇人或近亲吃一付砒霜，其份量之重，就是古代的巨象或恐龙吃了也会五脏崩裂的，就这样毫无意义地使他的受害者在那里呻吟，以致惊动了四邻。于是他们便去找一位医生来，医生剖开死者的身体，从肠胃里把砒霜刮出来装在一只匙羹里。第二天，一百家报纸上都会刊登出这件事来，并登出被害人和凶手的名字。当天傍晚，杂货商或药商就会来说：'被告的砒霜是我卖给他的。'他们绝不会认错的，一认就认出了那个犯罪的顾客。于是那个愚蠢的犯人就被扣押起来，关进了牢里，经过审问、对质、挨骂、宣判，然后在麻绳或钢刀上了却了残生，假如她是一个很有地位的女人，他们就会判处她无期徒刑。你们北方人以为这样就是懂得药物学了，夫人。应当承认，德律［德律是一毒害人的凶犯，一七七七年在巴黎处死。--译注］的技巧更高明一些。" "What would you have, sir?" said the lady, laughing; "we do what we can. All the world has not the secret of the Medicis or the Borgias." " 您还想怎么样呢，阁下？"那位太太笑着回答说，"我们只能是尽力罢了。全世界的人并不是个个都能有梅迪契［法国国王亨利二世的王后。--译注］或布琪亚那神秘方的呀。" "Now," replied the count, shrugging his shoulders, "shall I tell you the cause of all these stupidities? It is because, at your theatres, by what at least I could judge by reading the pieces they play, they see persons swallow the contents of a phial, or suck the button of a ring, and fall dead instantly. Five minutes afterwards the curtain falls, and the spectators depart. They are ignorant of the consequences of the murder; they see neither the police commissary with his badge of office, nor the corporal with his four men; and so the poor fools believe that the whole thing is as easy as lying. But go a little way from France--go either to Aleppo or Cairo, or only to Naples or Rome, and you will see people passing by you in the streets--people erect, smiling, and fresh-colored, of whom Asmodeus, if you were holding on by the skirt of his mantle, would say, 'That man was poisoned three weeks ago; he will be a dead man in a month.'" " 现在，"伯爵耸了耸肩回答道，"让我来告诉您这种蠢事的起因好吗？那是因为在你们的戏院里，至少，我可以从我看过的几个剧中作出这样的判断，他们看到舞台上的人吞下一个小瓶子里的东西或吮了一下一只戒指，就立刻倒下去死了。五分钟以后，大幕落下来，观众也就散了。他们是不知道以后的事情的。他们既没有看到那佩着绶带的警官，也没有看见那带着四个兵的警长，于是，很多愚人就相信事情的确就是那样的。但离法国稍远一点的地方，到阿莱普或开罗，或是只要到那不勒斯或罗马，您在街上看到有一个人经过您的身旁时，那个人腰杆笔直，面带微笑，肤色红润，可是，假如阿斯魔狄思［犹太教中的魔王，有先见之明。--译注］在您身边的话，他就会说：'那个人在三周以前中了毒，一个月之内就会死的。'" 
那么，"'维尔福夫人说道，"那著名的托弗娜毒水的秘密又被他们发现啦，我在比鲁沙听说它已经失传了呀。" "Ah, but madame, does mankind ever lose anything? The arts change about and make a tour of the world; things take a different name, and the vulgar do not follow them--that is all; but there is always the same result. Poisons act particularly on some organ or another--one on the stomach, another on the brain, another on the intestines. Well, the poison brings on a cough, the cough an inflammation of the lungs, or some other complaint catalogued in the book of science, which, however, by no means precludes it from being decidedly mortal; and if it were not, would be sure to become so, thanks to the remedies applied by foolish doctors, who are generally bad chemists, and which will act in favor of or against the malady, as you please; and then there is a human being killed according to all the rules of art and skill, and of whom justice learns nothing, as was said by a terrible chemist of my acquaintance, the worthy Abbe Adelmonte of Taormina, in Sicily, who has studied these national phenomena very profoundly." " 哦，真的，人类有哪样东西是永远失传了的呢？艺术是能移动的，它在世界上兜了一个圈子。事物只不过改变了它们的名字而已，而那些凡夫俗子便不再去跟踪它们了，如此而已，但结果总是一样的。一种毒药只对一种器官发生作用--有的侵害脑子，有的侵害肠子。警如说，某种毒药可以使人咳嗽，咳嗽又能使气管发炎，或引起在医学书上讲的另一种疾病，那种病，本来是决不会致命的，假如不让那些天真的医生用那些药物使病情变成致命的话。这大都是些不高明的药物学家，他们随心所欲，不是把病人治好了就是把病人治死了。而病人的死又看来十分自然，而对于他，法律是不会去过问的，这种事是我认识的一位可怕的药物学家告诉我的，就是那位可敬的阿特尔蒙神甫，他住在西西里，对他的国家的这种现象曾作过深刻的研究。" "It is quite frightful, but deeply interesting," said the young lady, motionless with attention. "I thought, I must confess, that these tales, were inventions of the Middle Ages." " 这种事显很可怕，但却极其有趣，"那青年女人说道，她听得出神，身体一动都不动。"我想，我必须承认，这些传说都是中世纪的发明吧。" "Yes, no doubt, but improved upon by ours. What is the use of time, rewards of merit, medals, crosses, Monthyon prizes, if they do not lead society towards more complete perfection? Yet man will never be perfect until he learns to create and destroy; he does know how to destroy, and that is half the battle." " 是的，那是毫无疑问的，但在我们当今这个时代却更进步了。假如各种鼓励的方式不能使社会日趋完美，那么时间、奖励、勋章、十字勋章和蒙松奖章还有什么用呢？人除非能学得象上帝那样既能破坏又能创造，否则他决称不上为完美，他的确知道如何去破坏，但这只不过是全部路程的一半而已。" "So," added Madame de Villefort, constantly returning to her object, "the poisons of the Borgias, the Medicis, the Renes, the Ruggieris, and later, probably, that of Baron de Trenck, whose story has been so misused by modern drama and romance"-- " 那么说，"维尔福夫人接着说道，她老是把话头拉回到她的题目上来，"近代戏剧和传奇小说中把故事都完全弄错了，凡是布琪亚，梅迪契，罗吉里斯，以及后来德邻克男爵所用的毒药" 
都是一种艺术，夫人，"伯爵答道。"难道您以为真正的大科学家竟会蠢得象常人一样吗？决不会的。科学是有怪癖，幻想，喜欢跳跃，奔腾和试验力量的，假如我可以用这些词来形容它们的话。举个例子来说吧，那位杰出的阿特尔蒙神甫，就是我刚才对您提到的那位，他在这方面就作过一些神奇的实验。" "Really?" " 真的！" "Yes; I will mention one to you. He had a remarkably fine garden, full of vegetables, flowers, and fruit. From amongst these vegetables he selected the most simple--a cabbage, for instance. For three days he watered this cabbage with a distillation of arsenic; on the third, the cabbage began to droop and turn yellow. At that moment he cut it. In the eyes of everybody it seemed fit for table, and preserved its wholesome appearance. It was only poisoned to the Abbe Adelmonte. He then took the cabbage to the room where he had rabbits--for the Abbe Adelmonte had a collection of rabbits, cats, and guinea-pigs, fully as fine as his collection of vegetables, flowers, and fruit. Well, the Abbe Adelmonte took a rabbit, and made it eat a leaf of the cabbage. The rabbit died. What magistrate would find, or even venture to insinuate, anything against this? What procureur has ever ventured to draw up an accusation against M. Magendie or M. Flourens, in consequence of the rabbits, cats, and guinea-pigs they have killed?--not one. So, then, the rabbit dies, and justice takes no notice. This rabbit dead, the Abbe Adelmonte has its entrails taken out by his cook and thrown on the dunghill; on this dunghill is a hen, who, pecking these intestines, is in her turn taken ill, and dies next day. At the moment when she is struggling in the convulsions of death, a vulture is flying by (there are a good many vultures in Adelmonte's country); this bird darts on the dead fowl, and carries it away to a rock, where it dines off its prey. Three days afterwards, this poor vulture, which has been very much indisposed since that dinner, suddenly feels very giddy while flying aloft in the clouds, and falls heavily into a fish-pond. The pike, eels, and carp eat greedily always, as everybody knows--well, they feast on the vulture. Now suppose that next day, one of these eels, or pike, or carp, poisoned at the fourth remove, is served up at your table. Well, then, your guest will be poisoned at the fifth remove, and die, at the end of eight or ten days, of pains in the intestines, sickness, or abscess of the pylorus. The doctors open the body and say with an air of profound learning, 'The subject his died of a tumor on the liver, or of typhoid fever!'" " 是的，我可以讲一件给您听听。他有一个极好的花园，里面种满了蔬菜，花草和果树。在这些蔬菜之中，他挑选那最简单的，譬如一棵椰菜。然后他就用砒霜的蒸溜水浇灌这棵椰菜，一连浇了三天，到第二天时，那椰菜开始萎黄了。于是他把它割下来。在别人看来，它的外表是很完好的，似乎是适宜于上餐桌的。只有阿特尔蒙神甫知道它已中了毒。于是他拿着那棵椰菜到了兔房里。因为阿特尔蒙神甫象搜集蔬菜花果一样，也搜集兔子、猫和豚鼠。好了，阿特尔蒙神甫捉出了一只兔子，喂了它一片椰菜叶，那只兔子便死了。对于这件事，一位位法官会出来反对，或甚至暗示其中有什么不对的地方呢？哪位检察官曾因为兔子、猫或豚鼠的被杀而控告过一位生物学家呢？从来没有。所以，那只兔子虽然死了，但法律并没有给以重视。这只兔子死了以后，阿特尔蒙神甫就叫他的厨子把它的内脏挖出来，扔在了垃圾堆里，这堆垃圾上有一只母鸡，它啄食了这些内脏，于是也生起病来，第二天也死了。而当它正在作临死挣扎的时候，有一只兀鹰飞了过来，阿特尔蒙所住的那个地方兀鹰是很多的，这只鸟冲下来抓住了死鸡，把它带到了一块岩石上，就在那儿把它的猎物给吃了。这只可怜的兀鹰自从吃过这顿饭以后，就觉得很不舒服，三天之后，正当它在云端里高飞的时候，突然觉得剧烈的晕眩起来，于是就无力地跌进了一个鱼塘里。谁都知道，那些梭子鱼、鳗鱼和鲤鱼吃东西时是很贪婪的，它们把那只兀鹰大嚼了一顿。于是这些梭子鱼、鳗鱼和鲤鱼便是第四轮中毒，哦，假若第二天其中的一条上了您的餐桌，那么，您的客人就会第五轮中毒，在八至十天以后，他就会因肠胃疼痛或幽门溃烂而死。医生剖开尸体，说道，'这个人是肝脏溃烂受伤致死的！'" "But," remarked Madame de Villefort, "all these circumstances which you link thus to one another may be broken by the least accident; the vulture may not see the fowl, or may fall a hundred yards from the fish-pond." " 但是"维尔福夫人说道，"您所说的这种情形是一种环环相扣的情形，只要略微发生一点意外，整个链环就会被打断，当时也许并没有兀鹰飞过，其中一环也许会落在鱼塘以外一百码的某个地方。" "Ah, that is where the art comes in. To be a great chemist in the East, one must direct chance; and this is to be achieved."--Madame de Villefort was in deep thought, yet listened attentively. "But," she exclaimed, suddenly, "arsenic is indelible, indestructible; in whatsoever way it is absorbed, it will be found again in the body of the victim from the moment when it has been taken in sufficient quantity to cause death." " 啊，那就是天意了。在东方，要想成为一个伟大的药物学家，就必须能计算阴阳，这也是得学会的。" 维尔福夫人出现了一副深思的样子，可是依旧在小心地倾听着。"但是，"她突然大声说道，"砒霜是不能消除，或灭迹的呀，不管用什么方法吸收它，只要到了足以致死的份量，动物的身体里总是还能找到它的。" 
正是如此，"基督山大声说道，"正是如此，我也曾这样对那可敬的阿特尔蒙说过。他想了想，微笑了一下，回答了我一句西西里的谚语，我相信法国也有这句谚语：'我的孩子，世界不是在一天之内造成的，创造世界需得七天呢。星期天再来吧。'到了下一个星期天，我真的又去找他了。这一次他不再用砒霜浇灌他的椰菜了，而是用一种盐性的溶液来浇灌，其中含有马钱素，就是学名为番木鳖碱精的那种东西。现在，那椰菜表面看来是毫无病态的了，而那兔子也一点儿不怀疑了，可是五分钟以后，那只兔子还是死了。鸡啄食了兔子，第二天也死了，我们暂时成了兀鹰剖开了那只鸡，这次，一切特殊的病症都不见了，只见到一些普通的病症。任何器官都没有发生什么特殊的变化。只是在神经系统中呈示出一种兴奋的现象，那是一种脑充血。那只鸡不是被毒死的，它是中风死的。鸡中风我相信这是一种很稀奇的病，但中风这种病在人身上发病却非常普遍的。" 维尔福夫人似乎愈来愈陷入了沉思。 "It is very fortunate," she observed, "that such substances could only be prepared by chemists; otherwise, all the world would be poisoning each other." " 幸亏，"她说道，"这种东西只有药物学家才能配制，否则的话，真的，世界上这一半人可要把那一半的人都毒死啦。" "By chemists and persons who have a taste for chemistry," said Monte Cristo carelessly. " 药物学家或对药物学感兴趣的人都可以配制。"基督山随随便便地说道。 "And then," said Madame de Villefort, endeavoring by a struggle, and with effort, to get away from her thoughts, "however skilfully it is prepared, crime is always crime, and if it avoid human scrutiny, it does not escape the eye of God. The Orientals are stronger than we are in cases of conscience, and, very prudently, have no hell--that is the point." " 可是，"维尔福夫人说道，她在做拚命的挣扎，想摆脱她心里的某种念头，"不论手段多么高明，犯罪总是犯罪，即使能避免人类的查究，也逃不过上帝的眼睛。在良心这个问题上，东方人比我们强，他们很有远见地在他们的信仰里取消了地狱，那可是和我们不同的地方。" "Really, madame, this is a scruple which naturally must occur to a pure mind like yours, but which would easily yield before sound reasoning. The bad side of human thought will always be defined by the paradox of Jean Jacques Rousseau,--you remember,--the mandarin who is killed five hundred leagues off by raising the tip of the finger. Man's whole life passes in doing these things, and his intellect is exhausted by reflecting on them. You will find very few persons who will go and brutally thrust a knife in the heart of a fellow-creature, or will administer to him, in order to remove him from the surface of the globe on which we move with life and animation, that quantity of arsenic of which we just now talked. Such a thing is really out of rule--eccentric or stupid. To attain such a point, the blood must be heated to thirty-six degrees, the pulse be, at least, at ninety, and the feelings excited beyond the ordinary limit. But suppose one pass, as is permissible in philology, from the word itself to its softened synonym, then, instead of committing an ignoble assassination you make an 'elimination;' you merely and simply remove from your path the individual who is in your way, and that without shock or violence, without the display of the sufferings which, in the case of becoming a punishment, make a martyr of the victim, and a butcher, in every sense of the word, of him who inflicts them. Then there will be no blood, no groans, no convulsions, and above all, no consciousness of that horrid and compromising moment of accomplishing the act,--then one escapes the clutch of the human law, which says, 'Do not disturb society!' This is the mode in which they manage these things, and succeed in Eastern climes, where there are grave and phlegmatic persons who care very little for the questions of time in conjunctures of importance." " 真的，夫人，象您这样思想纯洁的人，一定会产生这种迟疑但这种迟疑很容易屈服于坚强的理智。您知道，卢梭曾说过：'一万五千里之外伸一伸手指尖，满大人就被杀死了，'这句怪话最能表明人类思想上丑恶的一面。人的一生就是在做这种事情上消磨掉的，老是想着这种事，他的智力就在这些梦想中干涸了。您找不到多少人会残忍地把一把小刀刺进一个同类人的心脏里，或是为了要把他从地球上抹掉，而使用我们刚才所谈到的那种大量的砒霜。这种事的确是超出常规之外的--是由于怪癖或愚蠢。要做这种事，血温一定会高到三十六度，而脉搏至少也要到每分钟九十次，情绪也会因此兴奋得超出一般的限度。但假如，象我们在语言学上所下的功夫因此那样，把那两个字换成字面比较温和的同义词，你只是'除掉'了一个人，假如你不是犯卑鄙的暗杀罪而只是除掉一个挡在你前进的路上的人，不必用暴力，不必心惊肉跳，不会产生痛苦，使牺牲者大受折磨，假如不发生流血，没有呻吟，没有痉挛般的挣扎，总之，没有那种立刻发生的可怕的情形，那么，你就可以逃脱人类的法律的制裁，因为法律只对你说：'不要扰乱社会！'这种事情，在东方各国就是这样的，那儿的人天性庄重冷静，在考虑一件事的重要性的时候，他们对于时间是不去注意的。" 
可是良心上还是痛苦的呀！"维尔福夫人用一种激动的声音说道，胸门里虽闷着一口气，但却喘不上来。 "Yes," answered Monte Cristo "happily, yes, conscience does remain; and if it did not, how wretched we should be! After every action requiring exertion, it is conscience that saves us, for it supplies us with a thousand good excuses, of which we alone are judges; and these reasons, howsoever excellent in producing sleep, would avail us but very little before a tribunal, when we were tried for our lives. Thus Richard III, for instance, was marvellously served by his conscience after the putting away of the two children of Edward IV; in fact, he could say, 'These two children of a cruel and persecuting king, who have inherited the vices of their father, which I alone could perceive in their juvenile propensities--these two children are impediments in my way of promoting the happiness of the English people, whose unhappiness they (the children) would infallibly have caused.' Thus was Lady Macbeth served by her conscience, when she sought to give her son, and not her husband (whatever Shakspeare may say), a throne. Ah, maternal love is a great virtue, a powerful motive--so powerful that it excuses a multitude of things, even if, after Duncan's death, Lady Macbeth had been at all pricked by her conscience." " 是的，"基督山答道，"是的，幸亏还有良心，要是没有了它的话，我们将痛苦到什么地步呀！在每一个需要努力的行动之后，总是良心来教了我们，它给我们提供了一千个可以自慰自解的理由，而对于这些理由，唯一的裁判者就是我们自己。但是，不论这些理由对于催人安眠能产生多妙的作用，到了法庭面前却很少能救我们的性命。譬如说，理查三世在害死了爱德华四世的两个孩子以后，他的良心就对他起了极妙的作用。的确，他可以如是说：'这两个孩子是一个残忍嗜杀成性的国王生的，他们已遗传了他们的父亲的恶习，这一点，只有我能够从他们幼年的习性上觉察出来，而我要促使英国人民得到更大的幸福，这两个孩子就成了我前进道路上的障碍，因为他们无疑会伤害英国人民的。'当麦克白斯夫人为她的儿子--不管莎士比亚怎么说，那决不是为她的丈夫--设法弄到一个王位的时候，也正是她的良心安慰了她。啊，母爱是一个大美德，一个强烈的动机，它是如此的强烈，以致于它可以使人做出许多事情来而心中却能坦然无愧，所以在邓肯死后，麦克白斯夫人失去了良心的慰藉，就万分痛苦了。" Madame de Villefort listened with avidity to these appalling maxims and horrible paradoxes, delivered by the count with that ironical simplicity which was peculiar to him. After a moment's silence, the lady inquired, "Do you know, my dear count," she said, "that you are a very terrible reasoner, and that you look at the world through a somewhat distempered medium? Have you really measured the world by scrutinies, or through alembics and crucibles? For you must indeed be a great chemist, and the elixir you administered to my son, which recalled him to life almost instantaneously"-- 这一番话，伯爵是以他那特有的讽刺而又很真率的口吻讲出来的，维尔福夫人贪婪地倾听着这些令人胆寒的格言和可怕的怪论。在沉默了一会儿之后，她说道："您知不知道，伯爵阁下，您是一个非常可怕的辩论家，而且是戴着一副多少有点不协调的眼镜来观察这个世界的？那么，这是否因为您是从蒸馏器和坩埚上来研究人类的呢？因为您总是正确的，您的确是一个伟大的药物学家，您用来医治我儿子的那种仙丹几乎是立刻就把他救活了过来" "Oh, do not place any reliance on that, madame; one drop of that elixir sufficed to recall life to a dying child, but three drops would have impelled the blood into his lungs in such a way as to have produced most violent palpitations; six would have suspended his respiration, and caused syncope more serious than that in which he was; ten would have destroyed him. You know, madame, how suddenly I snatched him from those phials which he so imprudently touched?" " 噢，别信任那种药，夫人。那种药一滴足可救活一个垂死的孩子，但三滴就会使血液冲进他的肺里，使胸部发生最猛烈的牵动，而六滴就会中止他的呼吸，产生比他原先更严重的晕厥，倘若一滴就会断送了他的性命，您还记得吧，夫人，当他那样轻率地去摆弄那些药瓶的时候，我是怎样突然地把他拖开了的。" "Is it then so terrible a poison?" " 那么，它真是这样可怕的一种毒药吗？" 
噢，不！首先，我们得同意：毒药这两个字是不存在的，因为最毒的毒药在制造的时候，原也是当药物来用的，只要能按照它正确的用法行事，它就是一种有益的良药。" "What, then, is it?" " 那么它究竟是一种什么东西呢？" "A skilful preparation of my friend's the worthy Abbe Adelmonte, who taught me the use of it." -- 是我的朋友，给那位可敬的阿特尔蒙神甫所配制的一种妙药，其用法也是他教给我的。" "Oh," observed Madame de Villefort, "it must be an admirable anti-spasmodic." " 噢，"维尔福夫人说道，"它一定是一种妙极了的镇静剂吧。" "Perfect, madame, as you have seen," replied the count; "and I frequently make use of it--with all possible prudence though, be it observed," he added with a smile of intelligence. " 其效力是完全靠得住的，夫人，这您也是见过的了，"伯爵答道，"我常常用它，但用得极其小心，当然，这一点是值得注意的。"他微笑着加上了最后这一句话。 
那是肯定的。"维尔福夫人以同样的口吻回答说。"至于我，我很神经质，又容易晕眩，我深怕有一天会晕过去闷死，我倒很想请阿特尔蒙医生替我发明一种可以使我呼吸自由流畅，镇定神经的药。但这种东西在法国既然难以找到，而您那位神甫也不见得肯为了我而到巴黎来跑一趟，所以目前我只继续用泼兰克先生的镇定剂了。薄荷精和霍夫曼药水也是我爱用的药。这几支就是特地为我配制的药锭，它们的药性都是加倍强烈的。" 基督山打开了那年轻妇人递给他的那只玳瑁盒子，嗅了嗅那些药锭的气味，脸上的神态表明他虽是一个业余药剂师，却完全了解这些药的成份。"它们的确很精致，"他说道，"只是它们必需要吞下去才能奏效，而一个快要晕倒的人，却常常无法做到这一步，所以我还是宁愿用我自己的那种特效药。" "Undoubtedly, and so should I prefer it, after the effects I have seen produced; but of course it is a secret, and I am not so indiscreet as to ask it of you." " 当然罗，我也想用那种药，因为我已经见过它的神奇功效了。但那当然是一种秘密，我决不会这样冒失地向您要来用的。" "But I," said Monte Cristo, rising as he spoke--"I am gallant enough to offer it you." " 可我，"基督山一边说，一边站起身来，"我却很愿意把它送给你。" "How kind you are." " 噢，阁下！" "Only remember one thing--a small dose is a remedy, a large one is poison. One drop will restore life, as you have seen; five or six will inevitably kill, and in a way the more terrible inasmuch as, poured into a glass of wine, it would not in the slightest degree affect its flavor. But I say no more, madame; it is really as if I were prescribing for you." The clock struck half-past six, and a lady was announced, a friend of Madame de Villefort, who came to dine with her. " 只是要记住一点：量少才是良药，量大便成了毒药。一滴可以救命，这是您亲眼目睹过的，五六滴却不可避免地会致人死地，尤其可怕的是，如果把它倒在一杯酒里，它是丝毫不会影响酒的气味的。我不再多说了，夫人，这真象是我在劝您了。" 时钟敲六点半了，仆人进来通报说有一位太太来访。她是维尔福夫人的一位朋友，是来和她一起吃饭的。 
假如我曾有幸见过您三四次了，伯爵阁下，而不只是第二次，"维尔福夫人说道，"假如我有幸成了您的朋友，而不仅仅只是受您的恩惠，那我一定要坚持留您吃饭，而不致使我自己第一次开口就遭到拒绝。" "A thousand thanks, madame," replied Monte Cristo "but I have an engagement which I cannot break. I have promised to escort to the Academie a Greek princess of my acquaintance who has never seen your grand opera, and who relies on me to conduct her thither." " 万分感谢，夫人，"基督山答道，"但我有一个不能失信的约会：我答应要陪一位相识的希腊公主到皇家戏院去，她从来没看过你们那种富丽堂皇的歌剧，要我陪她去见识一下。" "Adieu, then, sir, and do not forget the prescription." " 那么，再会了，先生，别忘了我的药方。" "Ah, in truth, madame, to do that I must forget the hour's conversation I have had with you, which is indeed impossible." Monte Cristo bowed, and left the house. Madame de Villefort remained immersed in thought. "He is a very strange man," she said, "and in my opinion is himself the Adelmonte he talks about." As to Monte Cristo the result had surpassed his utmost expectations. "Good," said he, as he went away; "this is a fruitful soil, and I feel certain that the seed sown will not be cast on barren ground." Next morning, faithful to his promise, he sent the prescription requested. " 啊，说实话，夫人，要忘掉那个药方，我就必须先得忘掉我和您这整个一小时的谈话，那当然是不可能的。" 基督山鞠了一躬，离开了那座房子。维尔福夫人却依旧沉浸在思索里。"他这个人真是奇怪极了，"她说道，"依我看，他本人就是他所说的那个阿特尔蒙。" 对于基督山来说，这一场谈话的结果已超出了他最高的希望。"好得很！"他在回去的路上说话，"这是一片肥沃的土壤，我确信种子不会撒到荒地上的。"第二天早晨，他信守诺言，把对方想要的药方送了过去。 | 
